Costco's Best Riding Lawn Mower, According To Reviews

If you're looking to take advantage of your Costco membership and buy a new riding lawn mower, you might be interested to know which model customers have ranked the best. First, it's important to note that Costco stocks more push-mowers than riding lawn mowers, so there's less of a selection. But among the riding lawn mowers it does have, the Greenworks 80V 42-inch ride-on mower gets the highest marks.

Before we dig into what the reviews say about it, let's go over a few of its features. Greenworks promises a high-efficiency motor with both power and torque. The $5,699 riding mower comes with a wall charger, bagger, and multiple batteries. This two-blade model offers a minimum cutting height of 1.5 inches and a maximum cutting height of 4.5 inches. It also comes with a bright visual LED screen.

While it doesn't get high praise from everyone, it does get an average 4.3-star rating from 83 verified customers. Some raved about the Greenworks model, calling it the "best mower" they ever had, clearly believing they could maintain greener grass with a riding mower that makes it easy. Others, however, weren't as impressed. But with the majority of reviews, 67 of 83, giving the mower 4 stars or above and only 6 reviews giving it two stars or less, Greenworks is better ranked than its closest competitor, the Yard Force 56V battery-powered riding mower, which gets a 3.9-star rating.

While most customers liked their purchase, the opinion wasn't unanimous. There was lots of discussion about the battery: How long it kept a charge, how it was charged, and how powerful it was. Battery power is an important factor to consider when buying the right lawn mower, so the reviews are helpful when making a decision. The manufacturer claims it will mow 3 acres with just one charge, and some customers agreed.

One said the battery easily covered an acre with no issue, and another mentioned he was able to do three mows on one charge. One reviewer topped them all and said he was able to easily mow 5 acres on a single charge. But this wasn't the experience for everyone. Others said they had to stop and recharge before finishing mowing much smaller yards. One said the mower barely finished 1.2 acres on one charge. 

There was also confusion around charging the batteries, as well. Some customers complained about taking batteries out to charge, but others pointed out that a plug-in charger meant you could plug it directly into the battery while it was still in the mower. Overall, though, the Greenworks gets decent marks, making it the best rated Costco riding mower. Regardless, if you do buy a battery-powered mower, it's a good idea to refresh your memory on how to test a lawn mower battery.